Cradled in the Moon by Ananta Kumar Nath

Cradled in the Moon

Ananta Kumar Nath

Give me a needle, oh! my sister,

Crescenting moon,

But why for the needle, oh! my baby

To stitch a bag, dear

What have to do with the bag

Bag to be filled with penny

And query if any

Yes, but why do you want

What will you do if I grant

To buy a mammoth, to ride a mammoth

I would like to wander

Too far, in the fur  plateaus of you.

Poet’s note: This poem themed on and inspired by a cradle song in Assamese, a regional language of India, which depicts a little boy named ‘Paaniram’ asking the moon (which is also called lovingly as 'Joon baai' means sister moon) a needle to fulfil his dream. I used the word penny instead of money to mean a greater understanding of the reader in the context of universal appeal of cradle song.  The little boy dreamed to buy an elephant to go to his home riding on it while the villagers see him curiously and thus the song concludes. Mammoth and the plateau of moon symbolise the mixture of imagination of fantasy, mystery and science.

Ananta Kumar Nath from Jorhat, Assam is a freelance journalist and volunteer translator in PARI, People’s Archive Rural India . Having keen interest in the area of art and culture, he is compiling a book on Dr Bhupen Hazarika with special reference to Mera dharam meri maa, the first feature film of Arunachal Pradesh which will unfold some untold stories. He is also trying his hands in composing poems and his first poem themed ‘now’ was highly appreciated by the authorities of Gezer Gallery, Israel.